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ROB TRIPP, SUN MEDIA

KINGSTON -- Imprisoned National Hockey League player Mike Danton, who was convicted of hiring a hitman to kill his former coach, agent and mentor David Frost, has been granted full parole.

The parole board decided to release Danton, 28, after a three-hour hearing yesterday at minimum-security Pittsburgh Institution in Kingston.

Danton admited to the board that the person he wanted killed was his biological father, Steve Jefferson, though Frost ended up as the target.

"The victim turned out to be Mr. Frost but the intended victim was not him," Danton told the board.

Danton is likely to be set free within a few days.

The board concluded that Danton's risk to reoffend is low and this his explanation for the crime was "reasonable."

He was ordered to have no face-to-face contact with Frost, except with approval of his parole officer and therapist. He was also ordered to have no contact with his father, unless in the context of psychological treatment.

Danton will be supervised by a parole officer. Reporters were excluded from part of the hearing when Danton's plans about where he'll live were discussed.

He pleaded guilty in 2004 to offering to pay $10,000 to a hitman who turned out to be a police dispatcher. At the time, the Brampton native was playing for the St. Louis Blues.

A fellow convict, walking at a distance in the Pittsburgh Institution courtyard, wanted to know how Danton's just-ended parole hearing had turned out.

The inmate gestured with his hands, showing Danton a thumbs-up and thumbs-down signal.

Danton smiled at the man knowingly and shouted the outcome of his marathon hearing. "Way to go, man," the other prisoner shouted back.

For most of the hearing, Danton, his head shaved, wearing a dress shirt and grey slacks, appeared relaxed and confident.